I got the Wacom Bamboo, but not used it seriously yet. It was more for arty stuffs where the mouse just isn't as good and you need a pen for finer control. Only thing about it is the size. I think if you're really serious a bigger one would help. The Bamboo just happened to be a cheap starting point and was recommended by a friend. I do need a bigger computer desk if I'm going to use it regularly...

i've been thinking about getting a tablet, but more so i dont get RSI more than anything else.

I can see how it would help out with fine tuning photos, and with brushes in graphic design, but for me, i just dont want Repetitive Strain Injury from clicking the mouse and having a restricted movement all the time.

plus.... they look cool and professional... in case you wanted to show off to someone.

I have a Wacom Graphire 3 which is about 5 years old now. Its not something I use every day but when I do use it on Photoshop its invaluable. When using brushes and the eraser on layers its much more intuative and precise than a mouse. You soon get used to looking at the screen while drawing. I only have a small tablet (A5 size) but since you use it whilst zoomed in it works fine.

Combine this with Corel Painter and you have a very powerful natural media simulation.
For retouching photographs though, a Bamboo will do very well (of course combined with Adobe Photoshop).

It takes some time to get used to it especially for drawing. It feels quite unnatural to draw or whatever and not look at the result appearing underneath your hand but on the screen. I use my tablet with a laptop, so I would often place the tablet on the keyboard and align and centre it to the screen. It is far more intuitive this way, but I cannot access my keyboard hot-keys

Now, when it comes to tablet size I find that even the smallest tablets available can be very very useful and even more convenient to use. I cannot tell much about photo retouching because I do not use my tablet for that but if I were to chose a new tablet I would grab a few sheets of paper of various sizes and I would simply scribble something, make a few of my typical strokes and see how comfortable I was, if space was insufficient or too much white space remained (tablet surface is expensive!).

Tablet surface gets mapped to your screen, so the closest in size and aspect ratio those are, the better.

If you are really passionate about retouching your photos, then the best solution in my view will be a big screen (say 20"-22") and an A3 or XL tablet (like Intous3 A3 or Intous4 XL - both will give you more than you need in still imaging; to the point that you'll be able to tweak every pixel without having to zoom in and out much).

Last but not least, the mouse is still a great pointing device.

Last edited by ico on Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:33 am, edited 2 times in total.

ok so ive been researching pen tablets and ive noticed wacom come up alot and it seems like a top brand. i want a pen tablet for sketching and photo edditing. which one would u sugest? will bamboo suit me fine or should i be going straight to the intuos range?